Vegetable cutter and slicer.



- No. 829,025. PATENTED AUG. 21, 1906.

A. 0. MATTHEWS.

VEGETABLE CUTTER AND SLIGER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR-10.1906.

1N VENT OR.

@ M fl/mw/e M/77mm;

BY E I Q We v ATTORNEY.

UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFTGE.

I ARTHUR o. MATTHEWS, or ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

VEGETABLE CUTTER AND SLICER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 21, 1906.

Application filed March 10, 1906. Serial No. 305,297.

To aZZ whom, it may concern;

Be it known that I, ARTHUR C. MAT- THEWS, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vegetable Cutters and Slicers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

My invention has relation to vegetable cutters and slicers; and it consists in the novel construction and arrangement of parts more fully set forth in the specification, and pointed out in the claims.

In the'drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of the device with the feed-hopper as well as the milled head of the adj usting-screw for the movable follower removed. Fig. 2 is a rear elevation with wall partly broken away. Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section on the broken line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a sectional detail of the adjustable follower to which the lower hinged section of the feed-hopper is coupled. Fig. 5 is an inner face view of the hopper. Fig. 6 is a perspective of a modified form of hopper. Fig. 7 is a sectional detail through the blade on the line 7 7 of Fig. 2, and Fig. 8 is a vertical sectional detail on line 8 8 of Fig. 2.

The object of my invention is to construct a vegetable cutter and slicer which may be readily taken apart, for. purposes of cleaning, one in which the material operated on may be forced well up against the blades by which it is to be sliced, one which permits the slicing of small vegetables without danger of jamming the contents of the hopper, one permitting the vegetables to be introduced through distinct chutes formed in the hopper, one in which the operating parts may be adjusted to a nicety, and one possessing further and other advantages better apparent from a detailed description of the invention, which is as follows:

Referring to the drawings, 1 represents a casing formed with legs or standards 2, the rear edge of the peripheral wall of which is provided with lugs 3, to which the rear removable wall 4 may be detachably secured. Secured to the rear wall is a housing 5, within which is confined and suitably mounted a gear-wheel 6, the spindle 6 of which is supported, respectively, between the wall 4 and the outer wall of the housing. The outer end of the gear-wheel shaft terminates in a square end received in a corresponding socket of an operating-handle 7. The gearwheel meshes with a pinion 8 at the adjacent end of a shaft 9, whose ends are mounted, respectively, in the front wall of the casing 1 and in the wall 4 and outer wall of the housing 5. Between the front and rear walls of the casing the shaft 9 is formed into a square or polygonal portion 9, over whichis slipped a corresponding hub 10 of the cutter-disk 11, the latter being provided with a series of blades 12 opposite the radial openings 13, each blade being secured along one of its longitudinal edges, Figs. 1, 7, the free edge of the blade being adjustable to and from the adjacent faceof the cutter-disk by means of screws 14, Fig. 7. This adjustment determines the thickness of the slice to be cut the nearer the cutting edge of the blade to the face of the disk the thinner the slice and the greater the space between them the thicker the out. From the foregoing construction, as described, it will be seen that by removing the housing from the wall 4 the gear-wheel 6 may be removed, then by removing the wall 4 the pinion 8 with its shaft 9 may be taken out and the hub 10 of the cutter-disk 11 slipped off the square portion 9of the shaft 9, and thus the entire operating mechanism may be taken apart and cleaned.

Formed or cast with the front wall of the casing on each side of the. front opening 0 thereof are brackets 15, having terminal sloping lips orgfianges 16, between which may be inserted a feed-hopper F, which, as shown in Fig. 5, may be provided with a series of par allel longitudinal division-walls 17, forming distinct chutes C for the reception of the vegetables or seeds fed to the cutters, or, as shown in Fig. 6, may be composed of a single chamber F for feeding large-sized vegetables. The hopper, Fig. 5, is provided with a hinged extension 18, having a series of pockets C, forming extensions or continuations of the chutes C, the face-wall of the extension being provided with a pin 19, which is received in a hole or socket 20 at the base of the adjustable follower or concaveblock 21 at the base of the opening or mouth 0. tion shown in Fig. 6 the extension 18 has but a single chamber, forming a continuation of the chamber of the hopper F.

The bottom of the follower 21 is provided with a dovetailed tongue 22, which operates in a corresponding groove in the wall of the In the modificain Fig. 7.

casing, the front of the follower having a depending lug or arm 23, through whose screwthreaded opening passes the screw-threaded portion of an adjusting-screw 24, the inner end of the screw carrying a head 25, rotatable in the casing-wall. The outer portion of the screw has a smooth or unthreaded section, at the end of which is secured a milled head 26. By turning the head 26 rotation is imparted to the screw, whereby the necessary adjustment or movement of the follower 21 is effected. By bringing the lug 23 up to the smooth portion of the screw and removing the milled head 26 it is apparent that the follower 21 may be slipped out of the casing-wall, and thereby permit ready access into the interior of the casing for purposes of cleaning the parts. v i

In the longitudinal adjustments or movements of the follower 21 the hinged extension 18 of the hopper always moves parallel to itself, being virtually locked to the follower 'bythe pin 19, so that to respond to these movements the body of the hopper must oscillate more or less about the lower ends of the inclined lips 16, (dotted position, Fig. ll) The purpose of adjusting the follower 21 in the manner indicated may be stated thus: The rear curved edge of the follower forms with each blade 12a complementary shearing edge or blade, the blade and edge cooperating to produce a shear cut on the material fed to the cutters. It is essential therefore that the follower shall follow the blade for any adjustment imparted to the latter in the manner already described and specifically illustrated,

is thus advanced toward the blades that the vegetables be fed to the shearing edges as closely as possible, and hence by coupling the hinged extension of the hopper to the follower both objects are accomplished by a simple turn of the screw 24 in the manner described.-

By removing the cutter-disk 11 a graterdisk maybe substitutedtherefor, as is obvious. The sliced or grated material drops through tllie 1(ipen bottom of the casing into a receptac e It is also essential as the follower.

Having described my invention, what I claim is 1. In a vegetable-cutter, a casing having an opening or mouth in the front wall thereof,

a hopper mounted on the casing opposite said mouth, a lower hinged extension forming a part of said hopper, a rotatable cutter-disk within the casing having a series of blades revolving in the path of the discharging side of the extension, and a follower coupled to the extension and adjustable to and from the blades, substantially as set forth.

2. In a vegetable-cutter, a hopper comprising a main or body portion, a lower extension hinged thereto and forming a part thereof and receiving the contents therefrom, blades on the cutter-disk, and a follower forming a complementary shearing member for the blades coupled to the extension, substantially as set forth.

.3. In a vegetable-cutter, a casing, a rotatable cutter-disk located therein, a follower forming a complementary shearing member mounted on the casing-wall opposite the disk, a tongueand-groove connection between the follower and casingwall, a lug depending from the front edge of the follower, a screw having one end rotatable in the casing-wall and having a threaded portion operating in a threaded opening of the lug, and having an outer smooth section, the parts operating substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. In a vegetablecutter, a casing having a feed-mouth or-opening, brackets on opposite sides of the mouth having terminal inclined lips or flanges, a hopper resting on the flanges, a hinged extension for the hopper, a pin projecting from the extension, a cutter-disk, and

a follower having a socket for the reception of the projecting end of the pin, the parts op erating substantially as, and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ARTHUR O. MATTHEWS.

Witnesses:

EMIL STAREK, Jos. A. MICHEL. 

